Secrets
by inkwheels
Summary: Gabriel asks and Riley answers. One-shot. *COMPLETED*


**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Intelligence. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**This is a quick one-shot that came to mind earlier. I LOVE Riley and want to know more about her. I'm hoping this show sticks around long enough for us to find out more.**

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She could hear the rain pelting against the window as she sipped the tea from her mug, watching Gabriel watch her as he opted for a beer.

"You're quite the woman of mystery," he said to her before taking another pull from the dark amber bottle.

She shrugged slightly. She'd already given him a taste of what was in her sealed file, but there was so much more that he didn't know.

"What do you want to know?"

"How did you get to become the glorified babysitter of the President's children?"

"I wasn't. Where'd you…oh…Lillian."

He nodded. "She said you took down four guys all by yourself."

Silence hung in the air and he could see her re-living the moment in her mind.

"What happened?"

Sighing, she sipped her tea and then ran her finger over the edge a few times. "His daughters needed to go to the bathroom and I was the only female agent on duty that night. I went with them and four guys stormed in."

"She said you were stabbed a few times."

"Five." The word got stuck in her throat as she thought back to when it happened. "Five times."

A look of concern grew across his face.

"I was outnumbered but I managed to control the situation and take them down before they could complete their mission – kidnapping the children."

"She said you got them home in time for dinner. That's impressive."

Riley smiled and looked down at her mug. "Yeah, nothing like bleeding all over the place in front of a couple of teenagers."

"Was it bad?"

The slight smile on her face faded. She didn't answer right away and debated about divulging too much information, but the always secretive Riley Neal let her guard down.

"It's hard being a female in this line of work. You cry or complain and everyone around you is going to think you're weak and incapable."

"You're neither, you know that."

"I know that but do _they_ know that? It was my first big job and I couldn't give them even one tiny thing to pin on me."

"So what happened?"

"I dropped the kids off, had my partner drive me to the hospital and told him I'd catch a cab home. I – I um – I passed out the second he left." She swallowed hard and bit her bottom lip. "Turned out that one of the knife wounds nicked my lung so I had internal bleeding." She smiled and shook her head as if making light of it, "Spent two days in ICU. My damn ribcage was black and blue for almost a month."

He looked at her with a great deal of concern.

"I'm sure you looked at my medical history and know all this so why are you asking?"

"Actually I didn't. I wouldn't do that to you. I just – I don't like to see you hurt and it seems like that's all that's happened to you – for a while now."

Licking her lips, she tucked her bottom one in between her teeth. "Yeah, well, I get paid to protect people and getting hurt comes with the job."

"I know. I just don't like it, that's all."

"My life and my job have toughened me up. Besides, I'm sure you've gotten your fair share of scars."

"Yes and with this thing in my head I'm pretty sure I'm going to gain a few more." He took another sip of his beer and picked at the label on the bottle. "Is that the worst injury you've gotten on the job so far?"

"Gabriel. Why are we even talking about this?"

"Just curious."

She sighed heavily and put her head back onto the couch pillow. "Yes."

"Riiiileeeey."

"Fine." She paused for almost a minute before she continued. "Technically, I've died already."

Gabriel sat up straighter and put his beer down on the coffee table.

"Before I got a job with the secret service, I worked for a senator who had more than his share of enemies. He was a gambler and owed a lot of people a lot of money. We were at a charity event and someone decided to send him a message by beating the shit out of him. It turned into a major brawl and when I tried to get him into his car I caught a bullet to the shoulder. It hit an artery and I nearly bled out. My heart stopped for almost a minute so…"

Gabriel leaned forward putting his elbows on his knees. "Geez, Riley."

"It's no big deal. My emotional scars are worse than my physical ones anyway." She tried to blow it off as if it didn't matter, it was easier that way.

Riley watched Gabriel as he sat in silence, wringing his hands together.

"What?" she asked.

"Have you ever talked to anyone about all this stuff you're carrying around inside?"

"You're digging deep tonight, aren't you? I think this question and answer session is over." She got up and headed into the kitchen to get some more tea.

"Riley, I'm serious?" he said as he got up to follow her.

"Gabriel, my past is my _past_. It all happened a long time ago and-"

"And you're in this job because you're making up for all the times that you couldn't protect yourself and your mother."

"Oh no. No. No. No. You will _not_ try to analyze me."

"Riley, you know I'm right."

Blowing out a breath, she threw her coffee mug across the room and watched it smash into pieces all over the floor.

He stood in the doorway and didn't move or say a word.

She braced her hands on the table and took in a couple of deep breaths.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I shouldn't have-"

"No. You're right," she said as she pulled out a chair and sat down, running her fingers through her hair. "I guess I'm in this line of work because it makes me feel strong and powerful, not weak and powerless. I should have done something sooner to defend us both."

"You were just a kid."

"I was old enough to at least do something. I was afraid, afraid he'd kill us." She was quiet for a moment. "I'll never forget the look on his face when I killed him. He never saw it coming."

He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"If it means anything, I feel safe with you by my side."

She looked up at him and laughed. "Uh huh."

"I'm serious. At first I thought you'd be like the other agents they had assigned to me."

"Our first day together was a little rough."

"Yeah, but as soon as you took that bullet for me I knew you were different. The others were too concerned about getting their suits dirty."

"As long as we're being honest, I really did think you were a pain in the ass."

"And now?"

"I still do, but I don't mind."

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END


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